As I slid the stick into reverse, Aunt Marge tapped on my window. The glass lowered quickly as I pressed the button and she immediately shoved Carving Earth into my lap.
“Read it, please, Valerie.”
I nodded softly. “Okay.”
“And happy birthday,” she added as she awkwardly dropped a tiny gift box into my left hand.
I smiled and glanced up at her. “Thank you.” She smiled back, but walked away before I had a chance to even consider unwrapping it. Of course, I opened it anyway. Inside, a thin necklace rested on a velvety black cushion with a note: This was your mother’s. On the chain hung a strange but beautiful quarter-sized jewel. I wasn’t sure what it was, exactly, but it reminded me of fire. A fire opal, perhaps? Either way, it was stunning. I hooked it around my neck almost immediately, feeling happier than I’d ever been just having something of my mother’s so close to me.
The gifts I’d been given that year were simply unmatchable.
The car was still in reverse as I wondered where I’d go. The drive with Holden, Chase, and the crew the night we’d wrecked Cade’s place immediately drifted into my mind. That road would be a joy to drive. Moreover, I desperately needed to talk to Cade. He was the only one I hadn’t yet reached out to, the one I was worried about the most. The image of his mother’s death would probably haunt me for the rest of my life.
I wasn’t a demon behind the wheel, but no matter the speed, the car handled beautifully. It was as if the mountains required virtually no effort to climb, as if the sharp curves were just a sway in one direction or the other.
I arrived at Cade’s sooner than I had anticipated. Anxiety quickly swelled in my veins as I wondered how our conversation might go. Would he hate me now? Would he turn me away forever? Could I live with an outcome like that? At least my car was new and unrecognizable; it meant that nobody turned me away instantaneously.
At the end of the long dirt driveway, Cade sat soundlessly on the front porch. Apparently staring at nothing, I could tell he wasn’t quite himself. The engine hummed silently as I sat, debating about how to proceed. Should I roll the window down and tell him to get in? Should I get out and sit with him on the porch? I didn’t know why it hadn’t occurred to me sooner, but I was totally risking my life by even being there at all; less than twenty-four hours before, the Landstons had been trying to murder me.
A moment later Cade sighed and stepped down from his perch. His knuckle tapped on the glass of my window, and he bent over and leaned on my door after I slid it down.
“What are you doing here, Valerie?” His voice was calm, not hostile, but not exactly welcoming either.
I swallowed hard. “I just needed to see you, to make sure you were all right, after…”
He raised his eyebrows and smirked. “Well you’ve seen me. I’m certainly more alive than some, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Yes,” I whispered with a soft nod of my head. My heart was racing. I needed to keep him there talking to me because I knew if I didn’t, he would walk away from me indefinitely. “And so am I.”
His smirk widened. “So I see. Tell me, did you know all along?”
My mouth hung ajar. “How could I have possibly known?”
He shrugged and pushed off of my door, crossing his arms a couple feet away from me. “It’s just a little uncanny, Val. The same night you get your powers—extraordinary, otherworldly powers—your aunt decides to expose herself for the first time in who knows how long. And your grandfather—the most powerful Elemental I’ve ever had the displeasure of coming across—also just so happens to creep out of the woodwork. Meanwhile, your supposedly unknowing-Elemental of a father lands right in the heart of an Elemental rebellion overseas, and your long-lost cousin arrives for more family reunion fun.” His smirk turned acerbic. “Have I missed anything? Care to elaborate on any of that?”
Only one of those supposed facts mattered at the moment. “My father’s in the middle of an Elemental rebellion?”
Cade rubbed his chin theatrically. “Let’s see…he’s on a carrier, right? The U.S.S. United States, I believe. Yes, that’s the one. It’s been all over the news, not that any of us have had much of a chance to notice, what with the chaos and violence of our own going on.”
“Don’t preach to me about violence, Cade Landston! Your parents tried to murder me last night. Or have you so quickly forgotten?”
He shook his head. “No, I haven’t. That’d be impossible. I would feel bad about that, except…I’m beginning to think they were just pawns in whatever game your family is playing.”
“Pawns?” My mouth and eyes were bugging, I could feel it. How could he suggest something like that? What would that even mean?
“Yeah.” He uncrossed his arms and shoved his hands into his pockets. He rocked on his feet, but not nervously. “Like, it was a setup. You all made it seem like my parents were in charge of the alleged ‘murder’ when really, you set up the entire scene, full of subtle tricks and traps and hints that lead us all exactly where you wanted us.”
I exhaled and noticed my arms shaking as my fingers white-knuckled the steering wheel. “Do you even realize how absurd that sounds?”
“Absurd, maybe. Untrue—”
“Yes! Of course it’s untrue!”
“It’s too coincidental, Val. Maybe, just maybe, you didn’t know what was going on, but I’d be a damned fool to believe that no one else did.” He leaned on the car door again and put his lips right up to my ear. The heat of his breath on my skin gave me goosebumps. “These family members of yours…they’re powerful. You don’t get that powerful without blood on your hands, and you don’t get blood on your hands for no good reason. They have ulterior motives. Bigger plans. And whatever they are, whenever they happen, you can bet your ass I’ll be there to ruin them.”
Instinctually, I wrapped my hands around his as they rested on my door. “Cade, please. I don’t understand much of any of this. I didn’t know about my dad being Elemental until last night—if Jameson even is my biological father. Who knows anymore? I haven’t even really had time to process that gem of information… And my aunt and cousin…they’re good people. I mean, I’m almost positive. My grandfather…is anybody’s guess—and trust me, there are a lot of guesses. I haven’t figured him out yet, but neither has anybody else, I’m afraid.”
I squeezed his hands tighter. “And as for power, I thought Elementals had to get it honestly? By practicing, or living long enough for it to increase on its own, or something. But regardless, if they’re as powerful as you say, and I believe that you’re right, then you need to stay the hell away from them! Don’t go on some harebrained vigilante mission to save the world and avenge your mother. I’m not going to say it’s not worth it to try—that would be too careless of me—but I will say it’s not worth you dying, and the likelihood of dying when it comes to thwarting an Elemental of that caliber seems sort of inevitable.”
“Valerie…” He pulled his hands out from under mine and reached one up to cup my chin. “You understand that you are one of the powerful ones you’re advising me to stay away from, don’t you? You’re one of the ones who could inevitably kill me, or anyone else, for that matter.”
“No.” I shook my head. “I would never! I’m not—”
“Extremely powerful?” he filled in with a sympathetic smile as he dropped his hand from my face. “Capable of controlling two elements? Come on, Val…”
“No,” I reiterated more fervently. “I would never kill you, Cade. I could never kill anybody.”
“Maybe not on purpose, but there’s no denying that your powers are great, perhaps greater than you can sometimes control. It could very possibly happen. And, honestly? I think I’d forgive you if it did happen, because I know it would be an accident. What I can’t forgive is what your aunt and grandfather did last night. Your aunt killed countless innocents, and your grandfather killed my mother. That was no accident.”
The air was cooling as gray clouds slowly moved in
, enhanced by the chill of Cade’s words. The sweetness on the autumn air did little to combat the distaste left on my tongue by our conversation.
I understood why he could never forgive my family, but he was completely neglecting what his own parents had tried to do to me. I guessed that because I’d lived, my suffering was all but negated in his eyes, and because his mother had died, her suffering was apparently magnified tenfold. It wasn’t fair, but if that’s not life, I don’t know what is.
There appeared to be nothing much left to say, but as with my other friends, before we parted ways, I needed to know where we stood. Would he avoid me, like I had inadvertently suggested? Or could we still somehow be friends? Was there ground anywhere in between to stand on?
“I don’t know, Val.” He grimaced slightly as it began to drizzle rain, and he pulled the hood of his sweatshirt up. “I don’t hate you, I know that much. I doubt I ever could, but my life is on a different track now, as of last night. I hope you can understand that. I don’t know if that track has any room for friends.” He smiled slightly. “Besides, I don’t know that friendship ought to be either one of our main concerns right now. There are bigger problems in our lives. Worrying about who does or doesn’t like you any more seems a little trivial in comparison, don’t you think?”
My throat was swollen, but I nodded and managed to whisper the word, “Yes.”
Yes, of course. Comparatively speaking, in the eyes of a practical man, friendship seemed trivial. I wouldn’t dare deny that he was right, even though, in the eyes of a girl who had just recently discovered the value of friendship, friends seemed of utmost importance. I didn’t think I could get through whatever was to come without them.
“That’s a beautiful necklace, by the way. Very special. Was it your mother’s?”
I nodded as tears welled up in my eyes.
“Fire opal, one of the purest I’ve ever seen. It’ll help control and channel the Fire within you. Don’t ever lose it.”
I sniffed and smiled as sweetly as I could. “I won’t.”
Over Cade’s shoulder I saw Loren take a seat on his porch steps. She crossed her arms and glared daggers at me, but didn’t say anything for once. Clearly, nothing had changed on that front; I could tell she was tickled pink to see me.
There was nothing left to say but goodbye, anyway.
I drove away, rain falling in time with the tears streaming down my cheeks as I steeled myself to the reality that I’d somehow managed to lose Cade along this dark, twisted journey. It pierced like an icy dagger, a freezing-cold pain right to the gut, and there was nothing I could do about it. I may as well have held the knife myself.
I didn’t know where to go, but I knew I wasn’t yet ready to return to Aunt Marge and Elise. I was going to have a glance through that stupid book once and for all. I needed some inkling, some dim glimmer in the darkness, as to what I might now be up against, and I needed to know as soon as possible.
Chapter Twenty-Six
I drove a few extra miles down the road until I ended up in a section of the West Woods that I’d never been to before. There were no houses to be seen, no cars on the road, just trees as far as the eye could see, squeezed as close to the asphalt as possible. I could barely even notice the rain trickling through the leaves.
When I found a slightly muddy pullover on the side of the road, I eased the car into park and grabbed the book. “Carving Earth: A History of Influence,” I said, reading the title aloud in an almost mocking tone as I wiped my final tears away. Based on those words alone, I had to assume it was just a giant book on the history of all significant Earth Elementals. According to Marge, Nicholai would no doubt have a place amongst these pages. Would she, too?
I flipped to the section she had marked and began reading aloud. “Nicholai Valero Prett…” Immediately, ridiculously, I wondered if I had been named after him. Valero, Valerie—it was possible. “Not much is known about the first few centuries of his early life, but Nicholai is believed to have been born sometime in two hundred B.C. to parents Nicklaus Prett and Eva Prett. He was the first of two children, though his younger brother, Maksim, was far more reclusive and is rarely mentioned in the histories.” Interesting…
I skimmed over the next few paragraphs. “Nicholai’s rise to power began when he married Elaine Rockwell, the daughter of prominent Earth Elemental Cain Rockwell, around seven hundred years A.D.” Stopping to frown, I reminded myself that my grandmother’s name was Alana, not Elaine. So, that was…curious. According to the book, my grandfather had gained wealth, power, and respectable friendships throughout the course of his first marriage, including a man named Thoron Blackwood, who would eventually introduce him to the radical group of Elementals called the Elite.
It was customary in those times to marry within one’s Elemental ability, and it was considered taboo and unacceptable to marry outside of these bounds. So, it came as a catastrophic shock to the Elemental community when Elaine died in the year one thousand three hundred (causes unknown) and Nicholai took a Fire Elemental as his second wife.
I whispered as I read aloud. “Layna Aiden was the daughter of Knox Aiden, Lord of the North American territory now known as Pennsylvania. European settlers had not yet arrived, but Elementals thrived in many various areas throughout the continent. Scholars remain uncertain as to how this astonishing inter-Elemental union came to realization, but regardless, it sparked a trend that broke the archaic rules governing marriage. As for Lord Aiden, his family become a wealthy, prominent force in Elemental society immediately following the nuptials. They remain an extremely influential family, even to this day.”
Things were starting to get interesting.
“Soon after his second marriage, Nicholai’s old friend Thoron Blackwood introduced him to Wind Elemental brothers named Draven Skyden and Erion Skyden, leaders of a small radical group called the Elite. They believed themselves, and all Elementals alike, to be superior beings, especially in comparison with humans. They wanted to live freely and openly, allowing their existence to be known amongst mortals, rather than hiding away from mortality’s unknowing eye. But this desire was not widely accepted. Many felt there was far more freedom and safety in secrecy.
Nicholai became heavily involved with the group and was appointed as a high-ranking official a few decades later. The Elite remained a rather trivial organization, though, until the fourteen hundreds when humans began settling in the Americas by the masses. As the mortals poured in, the Elite’s influence grew, but so too did their opposition, who eventually became known as Traditionalists. Nicholai and the Skyden brothers weren’t strong enough to push back effectively against the Traditionalists, and soon the Elite’s one shot at ascendency began to wither.”
That’s when things got really interesting, and also extremely…lucky.
Heaving an almost nervous sigh, I readjusted myself in the driver’s seat. So far what I’d read hadn’t exactly incriminated anyone, not even my grandfather, but I now found myself on the verge of reading what I assumed was going to be the most important information on these old pages.
“When Layna died in the year one thousand five hundred (causes unknown), Lord Aiden immediately offered up his youngest daughter, Alana Aiden, to take his eldest’s place.” My grandmother. She was Layna’s younger sister? “Alana, too, was a Fire Elemental, though she possessed a very unique ability that seemingly magnified her Elemental capabilities. Fire Elementals refer to this ability as the Gift. Alana was extremely powerful, but equally as meek.
For unknown reasons, Nicholai’s previous unions had never produced any offspring. This was not the case with Alana. Immediately following their marriage, she became pregnant with their first child, Margerie Prett. Margerie was an Earth Elemental, like her father, though she seemed to inherit her mother’s gentleness. Soon after that, Alana became pregnant with their second and final child, Amelia Prett. Amelia was a Fire Elemental like her mother, but was said to be passionate like her father.
Only
time will tell what roles these children will play in the future.”
That’s all it said about my aunt and my mother, so I assumed the book had been written pretty close to the time of their birth, somewhere within the fifteen, maybe sixteen hundreds. If that was the case, that meant that there was a lot of current history going on that hadn’t yet been recorded. All of the information Elise claimed to know, for instance, hadn’t yet been proven as fact or fiction.
I continued reading in earnest.
“It was said that Alana initially refused to enter into her husband’s campaign, and that she wanted absolutely nothing to do with the Elites or their agenda. She wished to remain peaceful and neutral. One way or another, however, Nicholai convinced her otherwise.”
As I read those words out loud, I could almost hear Aunt Marge’s argument come to life. How convenient for Layna to just up and die of unknown causes right when the Elite needed Alana’s power most. How strange that Alana just randomly agreed to help after years of refusing to get involved. But I couldn’t jump to conclusions. Had Nicholai forced my grandmother to join the Elite? Or had he merely persuaded her? Had she changed her mind all on her own, even? Hopefully I would find out…
“Blood began to spill. From the moment Alana joined forces with the Elite, their violence intensified. It was no longer a political faceoff, but rather a full-fledged war. As more and more Traditionalists fell, the Elites grew in power—none more powerful, though, than the Gifted Alana.
Nicholai took extreme pride in his wife, living vicariously through her strength and victories as if they were his own. But, when it hit him how uneven their powers truly were (possibly pointed out to him by the Skydens), he grew despondent. He wanted to stand on equal ground with his wife, and she, eager to please her ambitious husband, seemed to want this as well.”
This fact alone led me to believe that they had been in love, or at least Alana had, and that that was why she’d had agreed to do any of the things that she had. If that was the case, I certainly couldn’t fault Nicholai for it, even if he didn’t reciprocate her emotions.
The Essential Elements: Boxed Set Page 28